VIDEO: Ducks Cool Flames
By Michael Walters
The Anaheim Ducks hosted the Calgary Flames after just playing the Kings in Los Angeles the night before. Ryan Miller was in net against Mike Smith. Josh Manson was activated off the IR earlier in the day and played in this contest.
First Period
The Ducks opened up the scoring when Jakob Silfverberg break down the side of the rink and took a shot against Smith. It appeared like Smith made the initial save, but the puck squeezed between his glove and body sliding past the goal line. A few minutes later Adam Henrique would get to a loose puck and beat Smith at the side of the net to give Anaheim a 2-0 lead. Calgary did respond later in the period with a power play goal by Matthew Tkachuk. Ducks led 2-1 after the opening period.
Second Period
There were scoring chances for both teams in the middle frame, but Miller and Smith kept everything in front of them. The Flames did get a power play chance, but the Ducks were able to keep off the penalty. Backlund had the best chance as he got to a rebound, but he shot it just wide of the far post. The Flames had another good chance by John Gaudreau as he beat Miller, but hit the post. The Ducks best chance came when Patrick Eaves was in the slot. He took a rocket of a shot that Smith just got enough off to deflect wide. The score remained 2-1 heading into the third.
Third Period
The Flames applied pressure throughout the period to try to get the tying score. The Ducks got an early power play, but the Flames ended up creating a turnover and a rush the other way led to a Mark Jankowski shorthanded goal. The game was tied but only for a moment as Rickard Rakell would charge the net on the next sequence. He ended up losing the puck, but Ryan Getzlaf got to it and put a backhander past Smith to give Anaheim the back the lead. Calgary ended up with 17 shots in the period, but they couldn’t find the net again and the Ducks won 3-2.
Analysis
The Ducks started this game strong building a 2-0 lead early and avoided playing a terrible second period. The third period was questionable for Anaheim as they gave up a shorthanded goal and were outshot 17-3. Getzlaf’s eventual game-winning goal was key because it gave the Ducks back momentum after having just given up the game-tying goal. Despite only winning 42% of their face-offs and having no success on the power play, Anaheim was able to still play a good enough game to earn two points. Anaheim blocked 11 shots and the Flames had 17 turnovers. The Ducks host the Wild next on Friday.
Team Stats/News
The Ducks are 4-0-0 this season when leading after two periods.
Anaheim is 27-1 in their last 28 games at Honda Center against Calgary.
Jakob Silfverberg’s goal was his 200th career point as a member of the Anaheim Ducks.
Ryan Miller’s win tied him with Andy Moog(372) for 17th on the all-time wins list for an NHL goalie.
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November 8th, 2018